RHNB 02

Chapter 2

“That extremely valuable land you own will be handed over to us by Viscount Garen as a wedding gift.”

…Wait.

What did I just hear?

“I’ve already signed the documents with Viscount Garen and settled everything, so just accept it and quietly get married.”

Did I hear that right? Whose land are they talking about as a wedding gift?

For a moment, Ivenne doubted her ears.

“Honestly, we should’ve done this earlier. Does it even make sense that such land belongs to you? Now it has finally returned to its rightful owner. That old man must’ve lost his mind, giving land away through a lottery.”

“Exactly. It’s already frustrating that we’ve only been receiving half the income all this time.”

Their shamelessness—speaking nonsense as if it were completely natural—made her laugh in disbelief.

“That land is in my name. How can unrelated people make a deal with it? Say something that actually makes sense.”

“What do you mean unrelated? It will be very related soon. If it isn’t… then you won’t exist in the matter.”

What kind of nonsense is that now?

Ivenne raised her eyes sharply.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You foolish girl! Once you get married, you won’t be Ivenne Sweet anymore—you’ll be Ivenne Garen! Then naturally, the land you own will belong to your husband, Viscount Garen! That’s why we arranged to receive it in advance as a wedding gift. The documents are already completed, so hand over the land and just get married quietly!”

“Hand over the land and just get married quietly!”

Her uncle shouted confidently. Now that she understood everything, Ivenne was beyond speechless.

“Still, you should feel blessed! How much must Viscount Garen like you to offer such valuable land as a gift? To be honest, every marriage proposal wanted that land too, so we thought you’d never marry. But now that he’s offering it willingly, how fortunate! Don’t feel bad about losing it—it’s just returning to its rightful owner.”

“Of course! And look at her—so wasteful! All she does is spend money. Honestly, no noble family could handle her, so it’s a relief Viscount Garen stepped in.”

“Exactly. And he has quite a bit of money from his shipping business. A man in love will do anything!”

“Oh my! Oh my! This is so exciting!”

I knew they were stupid, but not this stupid…

There was no way Viscount Garen would actually hand over that land. He could just ignore the agreement.

Don’t they realize even a lawsuit wouldn’t work, since it wasn’t their land to begin with…?

Ivenne looked at them again.

They were already acting like owners, listing all the luxury items they would buy.

She slowly shook her head.

They had no idea.

Leaning back, she looked up at the sky.

It was perfectly clear.

[Half the income should be enough. That way, Taimen will either sell you at a high price… or not sell you at all.]

No, Grandfather. I think you were wrong. Your son is far more foolish than you thought. Your granddaughter is about to be sold off for almost nothing.

I told you. You should’ve chosen that smart relative instead.

Blood ties really are something…

She closed her eyes, ignoring the magic scroll she carried and the ring on her finger.

This is all because those “good shoes take you to good places” Oz golden shoes broke.

Otherwise, how could this terrible day be explained?

* * *

Year 1574 of the Empire.

Inside the Magic Tower—or more precisely, in a small two-story house within its grounds—lived the only alchemist of the tower.

The house hadn’t originally been there.

On the day she heard that nonsense about marrying Viscount Garen—

Ivenne immediately ran away from the Sweet family and borrowed a huge amount of money from the Magic Tower using her land as collateral.

With part of that money, she bought a two-story house and had the mages move it entirely using magic.

Then, she spent the rest extravagantly—loudly enough for Viscount Garen, far away in the west, to hear about it.

When rumors spread, her reply to Garen’s proposal was not a letter—

but a debt document stamped by the Tower Master.

Viscount Garen was shocked by the amount written on it and immediately canceled the marriage.

“He says he has money? What nonsense.”

Ivenne was very satisfied.

Then, holding the “lovely” debt document, she went to her uncle and demanded he pay it.

His face back then was really worth seeing.

Her uncle turned pale. Not only had he lost the golden land, but now there was an enormous debt.

He shouted about removing her from the family.

In the end, Ivenne received a document officially removing her from the Sweet family.

Holding it—

she trembled.

“I should’ve gone into debt earlier! There was such an easy method!”

She stomped her feet in joy.

“No more Sweet surname!”

“I’m a genius!”

At that moment, Ian Fernan, the 21st Tower Master, passed by shaking his head.

* * *

From the moment she was born, Ivenne had money.

So much that even if she lost everything she borrowed using the land, she wouldn’t care.

Father really had incredible luck with money.

Everything he touched brought profit—at least double, sometimes five hundred times.

Because of this, her parents trained her early.

[Ivenne, what do you do if Mom and Dad are gone?]
[First, transfer land and buildings to the Magic Tower, store jewels and paintings in storage room 23, move money into secret accounts, then cry and go to Grandpa!]
[Do you tell Grandpa about the money?]
[No!]
[If the Tower tries to steal your wealth?]
[Expose their corruption to the imperial family and destroy the Tower!]
[Our daughter is so smart!]

Ian Fernan, watching nearby, looked at them like they were crazy.

Then, when she turned ten—

Everything became reality. Except destroying the Magic Tower.

Life in the Sweet family wasn’t lacking. She had allowance and salary.

But for Ivenne—

it wasn’t enough.

For the first time, she had to check price tags.

Thinking before buying? That’s worse than having no money!

She had money—but couldn’t spend it freely.

So she endured.

For two years.

Then—

she saw a limited-edition bag.

“That’s mine!”

She bought it.

It’s just once… it’s fine.

That was the problem.

Once is hard. After that, it’s easy.

Second time is fine.
Third time too.
This is the last one.
No, today is the real last.
If I buy again, I’m a dog.
…Woof!

Ian Fernan clicked his tongue.

But luckily—

she inherited the golden land.

No one suspected her spending.

Until—

her uncle did something unbelievably stupid.

So, on the day her golden shoe heel broke—

she decided to “lose” the land.

(Not really—but on the surface, she borrowed money using it as collateral.)

Her uncle kicked her out of the family.

But she didn’t care.

“I don’t need their protection anymore.”

Rumors followed her—debtor, spendthrift—

but life was easier.

On her first day as Ivenne Haiwen—

she walked proudly into the Magic Tower.

The mages lined up and cheered:

“The pride of our Tower! A genius among geniuses!”

She responded with a cheerful pose—

then walked proudly like on a runway.

Ian Fernan, seeing this, muttered:

“Are there only crazy people in this Tower…?”

Everyone was happy—except Ian.